I can’t sell my house.

[Zooforhouse]

Been trying to sell my house since January. Have sold it three times. First buyer pulled out as change in financial circumstances, lost us our dream house. Sold again in 4 weeks, but didn’t find an onward, buyer pulled out as found something cheaper. Third time neighbour offered then withdrew quickly as decided the garden was too small (it must have got smaller).

i don’t know what to do really. The garden is too small. That’s why I want to move. Desirable location. The house is done to a high standard. It’s just on a small plot (is in town).

Do we reduce it? Forget about it for a bit? It sold at asking all 3 times. Reducing it won’t make the garden bigger. Change of agent?

Was kind of ignoring the issue but something we want has come up and it’s getting really frustrating now.

I don’t agree with this, I wish more new builds were done in historical styles so that they didn’t date so fast.

I think it looks great and garden is a great size for me.

I think the pp who said about reflecting whether moving is the right thing just for the garden has a good point. Maybe talk to a garden designer to see if they can come up with a design that would work better for you all. Small spaces have to be made to work hard and yours isn’t at the moment.

On a practical note, I get why I need to move the oils and salt etc from the worktop for photos, but do people really not keep stuff they routinely cook with next to the hob?

is there some storage solution I’ve missed out on here? Would love to know 😂

but do people really not keep stuff they routinely cook with next to the hob?

No, I keep mine in the cupboard next to the hob. I have a small kitchen and hate cluttered work surfaces.

I keep oils and pepper and salt next to the cooker too But then your kitchen is far far tidier than mine anyway

I don't think your indoor photos look too cluttered at all.

Is this house in your target market though?

OP, you have sold this house three times so some of the strangers on the Internet's advice should be taken with a pinch of salt( keeping with kitchen theme)

Ypu should only really interested in professional opinions and those with proper experience in price range/ area/ lots of house sales. Wvwrything else is anecdata.
There may be an educated guess on here but there will be a lot of irrelevant guff.

Me neither. The house is beautifully presented.

People who cook a lot often keep them there but some people don't cook that much, which has tidiness advantages!

Other people hide them in cupboards.

The house is lovely but I'd be thinking the extension has robbed the garden of space, and there is a mismatch between the house and gardens in terms of presentation. Scruffy tarmac and slabs with hardly a living plant (appreciate it has been dry!) So not really much pleasant outdoor space. A good landscaper could make something of it but it isn't to the high standard of the house. Possibly some targeted "dressing up" of the back garden could help?

Not sure why removing personal belongings and staging a house has become the prevailing orthodoxy. I loathe it.

My preference is to view completely empty, as they do in sane and civilised nations, where the custom is to buy the new home first, move, and only then sell the old, clean, bare, repaired.

Failing that, I prefer to view a home as it is lived in, honest and real.

OP, to me, yours is just right. You've cleared and cleaned and made everything sparkle. Any more stripped back, any more staged, and the illusion becomes obvious. I begin to mistrust, the sellers, the agent, my own eyes.

Not sure why removing personal belongings and staging a house has become the prevailing orthodoxy. I loathe it.

I,m not a fan either, anytime I've bought a house I, ve looked at room size, location, amenities, what work would need doing, etc, but there are a lot of people who don't have the imagination for it and cant see past clutter or decoration.
You only have to look at shows like house doctor to see people rejecting houses based on wallpaper or the type of sofa in it which is ridiculous to me as wallpaper can be changed easily and the sofa is not part of the house. but by decluttering, depersonalising, and dressing the house you make the space look bigger, more attractive on first impression, and like there are no storage issues, you make people feel like they can move straight in and it would be their home.
Its why new build estates always had interior-designed show homes to view, they sell the aspiration, not the reality of small sized rooms with small gardens. Smoke and mirrors

OP, your home is beautiful. Personally I think you've got it absolutely right - it looks homely with your things out, rather than a bare minimalist shell like some houses. It looks very stylish indeed. Regarding the oils, salt, etc. although I'm not selling my house I have exactly the same. I inherited a very sleek, minimalist kitchen which I have happily added my own stamp to.

I also 'inherited' a garden like yours, as the people we bought from had small children. It won't cost a huge amount to tweak it - get some of those slabs up and replace with evergreen and seasonal planting and get rid of the astroturf.

The caveat to all this, is that actually I think you are right - a price reduction may produce a buyer for you. Good luck, OP, your house is totally beautiful and inspirational - love it!!!!!

My preference is to view completely empty, as they do in sane and civilised nations, where the custom is to buy the new home first, move, and only then sell the old, clean, bare, repaired

In which civilised nations does this occur, I'm genuinely interested in the operational aspects of this, how is the purchase funded when presumably a lot of money remains tied up in another property.

Mildura They've exercised their human ingenuity to devise different financial products of course!

Presumably similar to the financial products available here, just not many people are keen on funding two mortgages for any significant period of time.

My preference is to view completely empty, as they do in sane and civilised nations, where the custom is to buy the new home first, move, and only then sell the old, clean, bare, repaired.

Where is this a thing? Not the US, France, Germany or Italy.

That house is lovely and very well presented. I have no idea of the local market but it does seem on the expensive side to me - that could be just SE England for you though.

These things are relative. My bit of the SE it would be £2 million.

We live near the station-can get to London in 40 mins. I’d say I wish we didn’t as it affects house prices SO much but my husband works there so….. 😂

Lovely house.

My only thought is you seem to have invested 10x more in styling the house than you have with the outside.

Some of that investment in time or money outside could make the outside sell itself. You probably wont do it if you want to sell it because it will be expensive but if that was properly landscaped/designed im sure it would be able to give just as much wow factor. Trouble is that would probably be enough for you to turn around and stay.

@sevenbyseven Must have missed that bit but that is NOT an old house. Look at the brickwork those aren't old. The chimney breast also does not extend into the room above!

it was extended in 2002. Heavily extended. Deeds go back to 1890-but agree, it’s very much modern now!

Lovely house. Big, clean lines, good storage, nice colours in the decor.

However, there's a good deal of clutter which has the effect of making the house look as if the considerable storage isn't quite enough for a family with two small children.

You need to have new photos taken after a big declutter.
In order of the photos:

Take the baby and small child toys out of every photo they're in.
Gussy up the front garden - kill weeds and moss growing amongst the paving, add big pots with bushes (maybe box) and big, colourful flowers. If there's a small flowerbed inside the fence, weed it and put in some tall plants.
Take family photos and all kid toys out of the sitting room. Rearrange books and bookcase decor artfully on the emptied shelves. Close the opened shutters.
Reduce items on mantel to three. Take away the vase of flowers.
Get rid of coat stand. Put coats into the hall closets. Get rid of the shoe rack and put the shoes into the hall closets.
Get rid of vase of flowers from bathroom window. Fold bathroom towels smartly. Declutter bathroom windowsill down to one cat and one candle. Framed photo/picture needs to go.
Get rid of children's toys from family/day room area and bookcases. Gussy up bookcases.
Cull the stuff on the kitchen counters. Leave only the coffee maker, container of utensils and the knife block. All the rest of the containers, appliances, cast iron pots, and bottles of this and that should fit in the kitchen cupboards. Put the decorative birds on the island.
Children's little toy kitchen has to go out of frame.
Remove all framed photos and art from the cabinet at the top of the stairs.
Tape white paper inside the doors of the glass fronted bedroom cabinet to hide the clutter inside. Take all the stuff off the headboard. Tidy up the bedside tables. Close the shutters. Put the plants on the dressing table on the bedside tables. Remove all but one or two items from the dressing table.
Remove all the toiletries from the windowsill in the en suite bathroom.
Remove all framed photos/pictures from chest of drawers in wrought iron bed bedroom. Leave the little pottery items.
Remove all the office equipment and swivel chair from this room. Present the office space as a dressing table. Remove untidy stuff from the basket in the bedside table.
Remove all the toiletries and art from the shelves in the next bathroom. Put a full roll of TP in the holder. Get rid of the metal toiletries holder hiding between the bath and the loo. Put unsightly items aside for the purpose of photos. Leave on the shelves only about five items that look nice together - candle, jar of bath salts, apothecary bottles.
Get rid of photos and art from the next bathroom counter..
Put a lot of big potted plants in the back garden. Pull up the fake grass and hide the kiddie gear for photos. Take the cover off the BBQ. Put the bench near the chiminea. Put the giraffe in the shed.

Change the description to three bedrooms plus office/den. Consider redoing the decor in one of the top bedrooms to reflect office/den use.
Consider dropping the term 'family home' - the garden is small for a family home. Maybe call it a spacious, well-appointed home ideal for entertaining, to appeal to a broader section of buyers.
Emphasise the convenience of the paved rear garden and the parking.

Your house might appeal to a family with older children or to people who work from home and like to entertain.

Not sure why removing personal belongings and staging a house has become the prevailing orthodoxy. I loathe it.

The idea is to curate the house to suggest the lifestyle the buyers might enjoy in it, not to show potential buyers how you live there, warts and all - your toothpaste, the blankets bundled into the cupboard, your children's trucks.

You should assume they are looking for a house that's bigger than the one they're currently living in. Above all, you're presenting potential buyers an image of a home that has room for all their stuff. Leaving so much of your own stuff out makes them think there isn't enough room for theirs.

It's also a proven way of selling. A surprisingly large number of people have no vision so you make it as straightforward as possible without the distraction of personal items.